The International Chamber of Commerce studied the distribution of costs in arbitrations between arbitrator and institutional charges (hiring the judges) and lawyer fees, expenses related to witnesses and experts, and document charges (putting on the case). As reported in the NYSBA J., Vol. 81, Oct. 2009 at 21, in the breakdown 18 percent went to the arbitrators and 82 percent for the lawyers and other costs of presenting the case.

The comparable cost breakdown of dispute resolution in court would be more than 99 percent putting on the case. In other words, the transaction costs of the forum of arbitration is almost a quarter more than the legal costs (See my post of Jan. 16, 2008: arbitration with 14 references.).